Darwin’s role in ambitious plan to save Rex airlines with revival of iconic TAA brand

Darwin Airport is at the centre of an ambitious new plan to revive Regional Express Airlines. Read how we can help.

Darwin Airport features in an ambitious new plan to revive two Australian airline brands as part of a nationwide regional aviation push.

Sydney-based Renaissance Partners wants to buy insolvent regional carrier Regional Express Airlines (Rex) and rebrand it TAA - an iconic aviation brand carried by Australia’s Commonwealth-run domestic airline until 1986.

Renaissance Partners director Andrew Cochrane told the NT News the Territory would be central to its Rex revival plan, but also if the company chooses to go alone if the proposed takeover fails.

“The Territory is closer to the rest of the world than southern Australia and the rest of the world wants to travel to Australia,” he said. “Darwin is closest to most of the rest of the world and that’s the reason we’re behind Darwin.

Renaissance Partners’ Andrew Cochrane.

There’s billions of people who want to come and visit Australia, and if you make the rest of the world four-hours closer and distribute them properly, then you cut out all the waste and backtracking that goes with landing in say, Sydney.

“The real opportunity that we get excited about is the economic benefit to Australia, particularly Darwin, of having this extra activity and economic benefits such as the jobs and investment. People bring prosperity and the goal here is people arriving in Darwin, staying in Darwin and moving through Darwin.”

Andrew said if the Rex takeover is unsuccessful, Renaissance Partners will continue to pursue the TAA revival plan backed, he said, by partners including JP Morgan.

Rex’s business model came unstuck last year after veering away from its original charter to provide regional aviation services by opening routes into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) could be set for a rerturn to Australian skies via Darwiin.

Almost a million overseas visitors landed in Melbourne and Sydney last year, Andrew said, despite neither city being the passenger’s actual destination.

He said wary Territorians burnt by countless failed airline start-ups, most recently the botched Bonza experiment, could benefit from the experiences learnt from those failures.

“Bonza created a business that found customers who were not flying before into destinations that weren’t serviced,” he said. “In terms of Bonza’s customer base, there was nothing wrong at all.”

The lure of discounted fares will also drive travel, with Andrew saying a Renaissance team member recently had to pay $1700 for return flights to Darwin. “For a couple of hundred dollars extra, you can fly to Europe,” he said.

“Airlines in Australia have been generally focusing on flying 26 million people to the world, but what about focussing on taking the world to visit the Australia they want to see?”

Placed in administration in July 2024, final bids for the airline were lodged last week. Administrators Ernst Young must find a buyer by June 30, although federal Transport Minister Catherine King confirmed last week a deadline extension could be possible.

The NT News reported this week that state-owned China Southern Airlines is canvassing flights into the Northern Territory.

Originally published as Darwin’s role in ambitious plan to save Rex airlines with revival of iconic TAA brand